Unlike the Others
by starr5
Summary: Not like the usual L/J fic. . . What happens when James's sister's friend is going to stay at the Potter Mansion for the whole summer before 4th year at Hogwarts? Things Happen. (I just put drama cuz general just sounded. . .blah)
1. Picking up the girl

Chapter One Picking up the girl  
  
  
  
"James! Time to go to the station!" A messy haired head looked up from the book he was reading and grimaced. This was the most exciting part! The hunter was going to get eaten by the monster soon! And now his sister, his unsympathetic sister was ordering him to go pick up one of her friends from the station!  
  
"Aren't you coming?"  
  
"Of course not. Shouldn't have a curl left if I go out into that pouring rain." Girls. Why do they care so much about their appearance? As if that weren't enough; listening to them complain about their hair, make-up, & nails; but they have to be bossy too! Adrienne was younger than him, well, by a few minutes at least.  
  
"You're expecting ME to bring home a strange girl alone? Besides, she'll be as annoying as you, talking about those stupid things girls talk about all the time. No, I'm NOT doing it." James said with an air of loftiness.  
  
"Please James? I'll try to convince Father to get you that Clean Arrow or Silver Sweep you've been hankering after. Now hurry up, the dear will be cold and wet by the time you get there, and then what will she think of me?" Adrienne said despairingly.  
  
"First of all, it's Clean Sweep or Silver Arrow, not the gibberish you said." James said annoyed, "And you friend will think you care more about your hair than her, she'd be right too. But I suppose I could pick her up anyway, how long is she staying?" asked James, relenting. The idea of a brand new broom was too much.  
  
"Oh, until school starts again, we're going to King's Cross together. Don't worry, Lily is such a nice girl, same age as you and me."  
  
"Look here Adrienne, how am I supposed to know who she is? I don't know what she looks like for gosh sakes!"  
  
"Don't worry about it James. I've described you to her, so I daresay she'll recognize you. Now please hurry, you're going to be late!"  
  
James sniffed. Obviously his sister had done him a terrible injustice. He looked into the mirror and stared at his reflection. Adrienne had probably described him as a monster to the girl, he wasn't that ugly. With a resigned sigh, he went out the door and set off at a slow pace. Hands in his pockets and whistling like he had all the time in the world.  
  
"Boys are the most provoking toads in the universe! The world would be a much better place if it were run by women and girls only. Why, they have no consideration at all!" But if she saw that a few blocks later James took his hands out of his pocket, stopped whistling, pulled his cap down, and ran the rest of the way to the station; she might've changed her mind.  
  
The muggle steam engine was just arriving as James ran into the station, red as a tomato and breathing is gasps. After catching his breath, James headed to where people were pouring out into the platform.  
  
"Suppose she'll be wearing her hair up in one of those thingamabobs like every other girl in this place! However am I going to find her?" James thought to himself. He spotted a a good-looking girl with a small hat perched daintily on top of her head and wearing the latest style of petticoats.  
  
"Must be her." James murmured. Gathering up his confidence, he strode over to the girl who was chatting to some other girls, not appearing to be waiting for someone.  
  
"Excuse me, would you be Miss Lily Evans?" James asked, congratulating himself on the elegant tone he was using.  
  
The girl just looked at him. "No, I am not." she replied, and turned back to her companions.  
  
Flustered, James walked away. "Where in the world is she?" 


	2. Strange girl, tipsy coachman, and arrivi...

Flustered, James walked away. "Where in the world is she?" The sound of pattering feet behind him made James turn around. What looked like a little girl, though she was tall enough to be fourteen, was running towards him and looking like she rather enjoyed it. "Wonder if that's Lily" he thought to himself.  
  
She didn't look like any of the other girls James had seen with Adrienne. Her red hair was in a simple braid, not like the array of curls, frizz, and such the girls around here wore. Her green eyes, which looked gray in some lights, were bright and cheery, taking in everything about her. "'Drienne never told me she was pretty." muttered James, taking in the sight of the rosy-cheeked damsel in front of him  
  
"This is James, isn't it?" inquired the supposed Miss Lily Evans.  
  
"Yes, how did you know?"  
  
"Oh, Adrienne said you had messy coal-black hair, a thinnish face and knees, and wore a gray cap everywhere you went." explained Lily. She politely refrained from saying that James had a mop of black mess, a skinny body and knobby knees, and wore a dirty old cap that Adrienne had firmly imprinted on her brain.  
  
"So I take it your Miss Lily Evans?"  
  
"Quite so." Lily replied.  
  
"Where are your trunks then?" James asked.  
  
"Father told me not to trouble you with my bags, so I paid that man over there to take them. There he is with our carriage." When they started off onto the road, James could feel the excitement practically radiating off of Lily.  
  
"I just love these nice rigs, aren't they lovely? Why didn't Adrienne come too?"  
  
"She was afraid of messing up her frizzles." James replied as Lily laughed.  
  
"I can understand that, Adrienne does care about her appearance." James marveled at Lily's carefree way of talking and dressing. She was like an alien from some unknown place, just trying to confuse him further into understanding the female race. Suddenly, James realized he was sitting alone in a moving carriage, with a GIRL. Panicking (a/n: that doesn't look right, help?), he racked his brain for some excuse to sit out in the front with the driver.  
  
"Seems like the man is a tipsy, doesn't it?" Lily said worriedly. "Perhaps we'll get thrown off!"  
  
Perfect.  
  
"Not to worry, I'll go out and keep things in order. Just stay put and you'll be fine." James scrambled out of his seat, and Lily put her hands to her sides as the rig gave an almighty lurch. After ten more minutes of bumps and jolts, the carriage creaked to a stop.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I've got her!" James's particularly loud voice rang through the mansion. Well, part of it anyway. Adrienne came running down the huge staircase, in a ladylike manner of course, and came to meet Lily.  
  
"Aren't you tired to death, dear? Wouldn't you like to lie down?" Adrienne rambled on and on while leading Lily upstairs and examining everything her friend was wearing.  
  
"Not a bit. I had a wonderful time getting here, except that tipsy coachman, but James took care of him, so I wasn't scared at all." answered Lily.  
  
Adrienne sniffed. "Dear Lily! Don't you realize that James said that only to get away? He can't stand girls."  
  
"Why, I thought he was very pleasant and kind!" said Lily with a surprised expression.  
  
"That just shows how much you don't know. James is the most horrid boy that ever lived!" Lily privately thought to herself that maybe perhaps she should leave the 'horrid' James Potter alone, and changed the conversation to admiring 'Drienne's room.  
  
"How lovely it is! I've always dreamed of sleeping in a bed with curtains and drapes. And just look at you décor!" She exclaimed while taking in her beautiful lavender velvet and silk surroundings.  
  
"I'm glad you like it, but PLEASE don't say such things in front of the other girls!" replied Adrienne, wishing Lily would wear things like the rest of them here in London.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"They laugh at anything out of the ordinary, and it isn't pleasant." she didn't say odd, or old-fashioned, but Lily new she meant it, and it made her uncomfortable. But Adrienne didn't seem to notice.  
  
"You MUST go to the 'Wizard's & Witch's World Wide Summer School' with me! They teach us all these Muggle and Wizard things that are quite interesting, everyone's going, and Father said you didn't have to worry about the expenses. It doesn't cost much anyway. What do you say?" Adrienne asked  
  
"I suppose I could, they do have music classes, don't they?" Lily said thoughtfully, "Mother wanted me to keep up my music while I'm here."  
  
"They should have them. So you're coming?" Lily nodded "Wonderful!" Adrienne said happily "Then it's settled, Monday I have classes, and you'll come with me. Then we can sign you up and get you registered right away!" Adrienne started telling Lily all about the school, how it was famous around the world (hence, the name) and how a lot of fashionable young ladies attend.  
  
"Where do all of the students come from?" but before Adrienne could answer, someone pushed the door open and ran in, sobbing hysterically.  
  
A/n: okay, I 'lied'. If you can already tell, this story has a really similar plot to one of Louisa May Alcott's novels. But don't worry, it won't be totally like that book, so some of the plot is still mine. All the Harry Potter characters belong to the wonderful, the amazing, the incredible, the brilliant; I could go on and on and on and . . . but I won't; JK Rowling! Byebye!  
  
starr 


End file.
